Except for some hounds-men, most hunters are neutral to the trapper. Not against us but not for us either The deer hunter and dog man for the most part, at least in my state wants the trapper, But they want the trapper to trap after the deer and hunting seasons. They do not want to have the trappers (in their minds) to mess up their hunts and their relaxation. They do not understand fur primness and why we trap. Most do not really understand that the trapper is the free wildlife control, protecting and controlling problems, human/wildlife safety issues, disease and wildlife depredation. Not long ago I addressed our state sportsmen federation in a monthly report on fur trapping and stated that we had 380 thousand k9 trap nights with out one major dog or trapper hunter issue. Most hunters I talk to (and I am one of them also as a dog man and deer hunter), hear the bad stuff, the he said , she said stuff, But have never had a bad situation with a trapper them self. And I can say also that every month when I give the fur trapping report all ears are open, and only a few folks that hate my guts LOL I can say that My NJ State Fish and Wildlife has really gone out and does a good job promoting fur trapping and really shows how trappers are the real total wildlife management tool they have. Can't say the same for the state legislation LOL Every trapper reading this knows we as trappers do not mess up the deer hunting after we have been on there for 3 to 5 days. The deer get use to us just like they do the farmer or nature walkers. But as a deer scent manufacture dealing with deer hunters every day, they only see the deer gods not the deer as an animal and everything has to be the exact. Today we as trappers have to voice that we are more than catching fur for fun, we are controlling and protecting the natural resources. and if you think about it the trapper is the only outdoor activity that fulfills the total wildlife management mindset.

Back in the late 70s early 80s,,my main income was from trapping.Fur was worth decent money and I bought my first"new" pickup truck with trapping money.Coons were worth 45-50 bucks a pop.One thing was, everywhere I trapped,,I either owned the property or had soul permission to be there.Not so much with the coon hound guys.They seemed to think they owned EVERYONES property back then.Had a few run ins with them.Back then you either learned how to hide your traps realy well,,or lose them.Lot of "Johnny Sneakums" back then.

I really don't infer that as anti-trapping... Compared to its heyday, trapping IS dead -- to the masses. You have to realize that we are in an isolated bubble here; while there may be lots of numbers comprising our membership HERE … compared to the general populace, we trappers make up a miniscule percentage of outdoorsmen. The author may be a bit melodramatic, but his statement is NOT anti-trapping.

It’s a known fact trapping scares deer away.



Same location.




lol

There needs to be some sort of consequence for people that make up clickbait threads like this. There has to be better things to do than trolling web sites, and that's all this is.

I think the subject line is very misleading and should be changed.

They want you to keep predators in check aso beaver if they get wet feet just do it from Feb to august and X2 on your last line

I would not go that far. Obviously the story struck a nerve with Brian and he is a straight shooter so I will take it as his interpretation that some may agree with and others may not.

Chris

Hobbie, please take another look at the page 50 comment the OP referred to. Here it is " Trapping, a profession that helped keep populations in balance and provided license fees to wildlife agencies, is all but dead."

I agree with you entirely that trapping is not dead, but as your forum moniker alludes to, fur trapping as a profession is all but dead. Most who still trap today do so as a hobby rather than as a profession.

Add up all the memberships of all 50 states and our two national organizations and it's all but dead

We may not be making money on fur itself, but being hired to control crop and property damage by critters certainly makes it a profession complete with licensing and insurance.

Deer hunters around here love us coyote trappers. Well as long as we aren't trapping during the rut.

There are 3,142 counties in the USA. There are fewer than 15,000 members of our two national trapping organizations combined. That makes about 4-5 national association members per county. Populations are not evenly distributed but if one divides 330 million by 3,142 we get 105,000 per county or a national trapping association member for every 25,000 people. Houston we have a problem. Thank God we have many wildlife managers that are helping maintain consumptive wildlife management and working with legislatures to keep those management tools, and yet there have been many threads and posts talking about how bad, stupid, lazy and anti these people and associations are. We as trappers many times are like young adults living with our parents with free rent, food, utilities, insurance etc. and all bent out of shape because we don't get our way.

Bryce

That's certainly true but I used to catch close to 100 coon each year and now I catch 3 or 4 protecting the corn in my garden.

You need to find 30 more gardens. lol